Opportunity Details

Institute for Informatics

Tenure

Assistant Professor

Clinical Informatics Faculty Opportunities in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Institute for Informatics

The Department of Radiation Oncology and the Institute for Informatics (I2) are seeking highly qualified applicants for clinical informatics faculty positions at all ranks (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor) on the Research, Clinical, and Investigator tracks.

Patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment for cancer present a unique opportunity for outcomes modeling and development of clinical decision support tools due to the large volume of well-curated discrete and objective data collected throughout the treatment process, including (1) tumor/biologic and patient-specific clinical data, (2) advanced imaging data collected for purposes of treatment planning and response assessment, (3) dosimetric data describing radiotherapy doses to targets and healthy tissues for a patient’s plan, and rigorous collection of (4) post-treatment outcome data. Our Department has published extensively on the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing radiotherapy over the last half century, particularly as it relates to modeling the impact of radiotherapy dose and fractionation on tumor control, survival, and toxicity. We have significant expertise in large scale analysis of radiotherapy plan data, and growing internal experience and collaboration with Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in the development of radiomic signatures from pre-treatment CT, MRI, and PET/CT clinical imaging. The current Clinical Informatics group has dedicated personnel for management of Department databases and data extraction, as well as a full-time PhD level biostatistician who supports ongoing efforts for clinical data analysis and trial development. Additionally, we have a robust IT group with a complement of full time programmers dedicated entirely towards development of custom interfaces between information systems and web-based tools for the clinic.

Our Department is uniquely poised over the next year to take advantage of a large scale shift in the deployment of new Departmental (Aria) and Hospital (EPIC) EMR in 2017/2018, and is in need of experienced individuals who can facilitate collection and analysis of multi-metric data from radiotherapy patient data flowing from our treatment planning systems, radiotherapy EMR, and EPIC EMR for purposes of (1) predictive modeling of outcomes and (2) development of clinical decision support tools.


The qualified individual will be expected to perform the responsibilities listed below. Specific experience in Radiation Oncology is not required.

(1) Facilitate streamlined integration of clinical, imaging, and dosimetric data throughout the Department, by interfacing with clinical and research faculty, and with full support by the current clinical informatics and IT groups.

(2) Along with the current EPIC/Aria transition team, develop processes for the successful deployment of EPIC and Aria as a mechanism for robust collection of discrete data for use in subsequent multi-metric data analysis.

(3) Collaborate with clinical faculty on the development of clinical decision support tools to support clinical operations, driven by multi-metric models from EPIC, Aria, and radiotherapy plan data. The ideal candidate will already have experience working within the EPIC environment, but Aria experience is not required.

(4) Interface with the new Institute for Informatics (I2)

a. To define Department data collection and flow to the new I2 data mart.
b. To share new methodology developed within the Department with I2 to improve outcomes across the entire Institute.
c. Participate in teaching a Masters/PhD-level course within the Institute.

 

Washington University in St. Louis (WU), founded in 1853, is a medium-sized, private research university with approximately 12,000 full-time students, half of whom are enrolled in graduate and professional programs, and nearly 2,100 part-time students. The diverse student body represents all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and more than 100 countries around the world, with approximately ninety percent of undergraduates derived from outside the state. With 30,000 applicants for 1,600 places in the freshman Class of 2016, the university’s undergraduate program was the 7th most selective in the nation, and the most recent U.S. News & World Report ranks WU 14th among national universities. For 2016, WU undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship have been recognized as among the top 25 in the United States by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine survey of more than 300 schools. This strength in entrepreneurial studies complements recent St. Louis recognition as among the best startup cities in the nation, evidenced in the CORTEX Innovation District and their 20 partners.

The Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is a world class research intensive academic health center. Since its founding in 1891, WUSM has trained nearly 9,000 physicians and has contributed groundbreaking discoveries in many areas of medical research. WUSM is internationally known for research in neuroscience, genetics, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, immunology, diagnostic imaging, and many other specialty areas. WUSM was ranked #6 in 2015 by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s research-oriented medical schools and currently has 1,983 full-time faculty members. In fiscal year 2014, WUSM received more than $353 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ranking as one of the top 5 academic institutions for NIH funding.

BJC HealthCare (BJC) system includes 13 community hospitals in Missouri and southern Illinois with 3,479 staffed beds, and is one of the largest academically-based health care systems in the country. The system serves regional residents through hospitals, nursing facilities, and a comprehensive outpatient care network. Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJH) and St. Louis Children’s Hospital (SLCH) constitute the academic core of BJC. BJC is recognized for its ability to integrate health services in a cost-efficient manner, while providing an innovative medical data and imaging repository to enhance physicians’ access to patient data. BJC has more than 100 sites in the St. Louis metropolitan area for medical care and services, and is the dominant health care provider in the region with a 34 percent market share – more than double that of the next largest system. BJC is the first health care system in the nation to integrate an academic medical center with suburban, rural, and metropolitan-based health care facilities. Both BJH and SLCH are on the WUSM campus and serve as regional, national, and international referral centers,
offering comprehensive care and providing a full range of health services and research for complex populations across the lifespan.

The Institute for Informatics (I2) is a comprehensive home for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science research, education, and services spanning WU, BJC, and affiliated entities. I2 was created in response to the changes currently being experienced across the modern healthcare and life sciences environments wherein there has been as fundamental shift towards trans-disciplinary, integrative, and data-intensive approaches to basic, clinical, translational, and population level research. These developments have been coupled with the widespread use of information technology platforms to re-engineer of healthcare delivery and achieve greater value alongside improved outcomes and safety. The complex data, information, and knowledge needs associated with these trends requires a comprehensive and systems-level approach to Biomedical Informatics and Data Science research, education, and practice. In response to these trends, and as noted above, WU created I2 to provide an academic and professional “hub” for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science research, training, and practice. I2 engages faculty, staff, and trainees, as well as external partners, drawn from The School of Medicine as well as the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Institute for Public Health, the Brown School of Social Work, the Olin School of Business, the Health Systems Innovational Laboratory and Center for Clinical Excellence at BJC HealthCare, and the Cortex Innovation Community. I2 engages in innovative research, workforce development, and dissemination activities targeting a variety of critical areas of need, including:

• The integration and dissemination of heterogeneous data, information, and knowledge resources;
• Computational approaches to the interpretation of bio-molecular, image, and clinical phenotypes to inform precision medicine;
• The acceleration of clinical and translational research through the systematic management of study protocols, data resources, and analytical pipelines;
• The creation of learning healthcare systems in which cyclical evidence generation and application becomes integral to care delivery;
• The use of ubiquitous computing and sensing technologies capable of facilitating population health monitoring and intervention strategies; and
• Methodological and technical approaches to enable and enhance research reproducibility and rigor.

The Department of Radiation Oncology was established in 2001, and consists of three divisions: Clinical Radiation Oncology, Medical Physics, and Cancer Biology. The department is one of the largest in the United States and a national leader in developing the most recent radiation treatments for cancer patients. These ongoing developments provide an exciting and rich training environment for radiation oncology health care providers.

The department is a component of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, which provides a rich endowment and remarkable environment for research and technology development. Major new equipment projects have seen the introduction of image-guided therapy as part of routine practice and the establishment of a proton
treatment facility. These new initiatives provide patients with the latest cutting-edge technology to treat cancer.

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University was the first in St. Louis, and the Midwest, to utilize ultrasound-guided permanent seed prostate implants, high dose rate brachytherapy for a variety of anatomical sites, stereotactic radiosurgery, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), three dimensional treatment planning, and clinical trials with radioimmunotherapy.

Cynthia Marich

clmarich@email.wustl.edu

314-454-8574

12/8/2017

7/6/2020

An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. It is the university’s policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, veteran status, disability, or genetic information. Washington University seeks an exceptionally qualified and diverse faculty; women, minorities, protected veterans and candidates with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Back to List